HOUSTON – A woman filed a federal lawsuit against The Post Oak Hotel after she said she experienced discrimination at the hotel’s restaurant, according to a news release from Civil Rights Attorney Randall L. Kallinen, who is representing the woman.
Blessing Nwosu, 28, who is Black teacher and a doctoral candidate at Houston Christian University, said the situation happened to her.
“Blessing was at a dinner in an appropriate dress, when suddenly people at the restaurant from The Post Oak Hotel put a piece of cloth over her shoulder, saying ‘you shouldn’t expose your shoulders’ when there were a whole bunch of Caucasian people with their shoulders exposed,” Kallinen said during a news conference on Saturday. “She was treated differently than the other people who just happened to be white or Caucasian.”
Nwosu’s dress had straps. She said she was shocked when the incident happened, and she felt like a spectacle because people in the restaurant were looking at her.
Steven Chou, the General Manager for The Post Oak Hotel, shared the statement below about the lawsuit.
“The Post Oak attracts hotel patrons from all over the world and is one of the most diverse properties in Houston both in employees and in its customer base. The plaintiff entered one of the hotel’s restaurants for lunch and approached the hostess stand. The hostess noticed on her own that plaintiff was clearly over exposed in her dress and discreetly and respectfully offered her a shawl for coverage. The hostess is a minority and denies any discriminating nature towards the plaintiff and simply wanted plaintiff to cover up. This is nothing more than a frivolous lawsuit filed by an opportunistic lawyer looking for 15 minutes of fame and a pot of gold. It’s a lot cheaper these days to use the media for free publicity in lieu of paying for billboards or television advertising. Any further comments will be made by us at the courthouse.”
Nwosu alleged the hostess did not ask her or warn her before putting the shawl-like cloth on her.
“As my colleagues have said beside me. It was extremely embarrassing for me. I went home and cried (and) had many sleepless nights,” she said.
She also said she looked on the restaurant’s Instagram page and saw they have photos of several people, who are showing their shoulders. She stated she emailed corporate and did not hear back, and she wants to see policies change at the hotel.
The first discrimination lawsuit against The Post Oak Hotel was filed in early October after an attorney claimed that the hotel’s dress code was discriminatory.